In the event of another pandemic or other public health emergency, our county commissioners are to have sole discretion on how to respond, according to new legislation approved by the Kansas Senate on Thursday.
The vote on Senate Bill 391 was 23-17. Six Republicans sided with Democrats in an effort to defeat the measure. From our district, Sen. Caryn Tyson voted in favor of the bill, which now goes before members of the House.
Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic is the genesis of the legislation.
The new law instructs public health officials to “stay in your lane,” said Sen. Beverly Gossage, Republican from Eudora, and chair of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee.
Health is the business of elected officials, she said, and “Somewhere along the line we gave them (health officials) authority.”
The pandemic contributed to the deaths of more than 10,200 Kansans. In Allen County, 52 deaths have been attributed to the virus.
THE LAW would make Kansas first in the nation to designate county commissioners as health officials during the outbreak of highly infectious diseases. Among their responsibilities would be orders on how to treat a particular virus and whether to quarantine.
Sen. Mark Steffen, a Republican from Hutchinson, and a former anesthesiologist, is a big proponent of the new legislation.
During the pandemic, Steffen railed against the promotion of the Covid-19 vaccines and instead promoted the use of off-label drugs such as ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and fluvoxamine — none of which have been proven effective against the prevention or treatment of the virus.
ALLEN COUNTY commissioners deferred to Rebecca Johnson, director of the Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department, during the pandemic.
One of the perks of the partnership included the department’s training for such events.
“We had been practicing for years,” Johnson told commissioners in May 2022, two years out from when the pandemic first arrived. “Maybe our response wasn’t flawless, but it had a good flow and we had lots of positive comments from the public.”
The department sponsored mass vaccination clinics, gave regular updates to school officials, commissioners and emergency managers and provided public guidance on how to guard against the virus such as thorough hand-washing, the wearing of face masks and getting vaccinated.
Health department employees worked evenings and weekends to meet the needs of the public during the pandemic.
That devotion was not always appreciated, Johnson said, noting she and her staff encountered hate mail, vandalism, and death threats.
